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Muppets from Space
UK/USA 1999
Reviewed by Leslie Felperin
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Unidentifiable creature Gonzo awakes from a dream in which Noah is refusing him access to the ark because there is only one of him. During breakfast at the boarding house Gonzo shares with his other Muppet friends, he finds a message warning him to "watch the skies" spelled out in cereal letters. A bolt of lightning induces a vision in Gonzo of two cosmic fish who explain that he's an alien from another planet and that his relatives will be returning soon to retrieve him.
Miss Piggy, newly made an anchorwoman, interviews Gonzo on television about his alien status. Government agent K. Edgar Singer sees the interview and Gonzo and Rizzo are brought by Singer's minions to their headquarters for tests. Fortunately, Kermit and Piggy come to his rescue. Rizzo also escapes and helps free other laboratory rats. Gonzo and his friends travel to Area 51 to meet the mothership from Gonzo's planet. When it arrives, the reunion is joyous. Gonzo contemplates returning home with the other aliens, but ultimately decides to stay behind with his Muppet friends.
Review
The sixth feature-length film in the Muppet franchise, Muppets from Space may seem misleadingly titled for fans of the original television show who remember Pigs in Space, one of the series' more delicious running spoof skits. Note that central preposition change, because this latest film struggles to get off the ground in every sense. Like its hero Gonzo, abandoned on Earth by his alien brethren, this sweet-natured but unchallenging film seems left behind by the greater sophistication of current children's films and, indeed, by the increasing sophistication of child viewers themselves, who expect flashy effects almost as a birthright .
Now that kids have The Phantom Menace and its digitally-created ilk to keep them entertained, cloth-foam-and-feather puppets are likely to elicit little more than a yawn except from the very young. Gagwise, only a couple of moments in the middle section match the old Muppet gold standard: Rizzo the rat and vermin pals escape their laboratory cage, Shawshank Redemption-style, through a hole in the wall covered by a Mice Girls poster; the operation to remove Gonzo's brain is stalled while the baddies check to see if his HMO will cover the co-pay. Otherwise, Muppets from Space overlabours its parody-cum-homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (a pretty old target).
With presiding genius Jim Henson now gone, some of the life in the franchise seems to have vanished. Where the series and movies used to pull in pretty big names (Michael Caine, Orson Welles), the human actors here are a sad, B-list lot (Ray Liotta, Andie MacDowell). At least we can be thankful, albeit puzzled, that the film-makers have plumped for a soundtrack of welcome if slightly predictable 70s funk classics instead of the usual ersatz showtunes favoured by children's films.
Credits
- Director
- Tim Hill
- Producers
- Brian Henson
- Martin G. Baker
- Screenplay
- Jerry Juhl
- Joseph Mazzarino
- Ken Kaufman
- Director of Photography
- Alan Caso
- Editors
- Michael A. Stevenson
- Richard Pearson
- Production Designer
- Stephen Marsh
- Music
- Jamshied Sharifi
- ©Jim Henson Pictures
- Production Companies
- A Jim Henson Pictures presentation
- Columbia Pictures
- Executive Producers
- Kristine Belson
- Stephanie Allain
- Co-producers
- Timothy M. Bourne
- Alex Rockwell
- Production Co-ordinator
- Ingrid Johanson
- Unit Production Managers
- Timothy M. Bourne
- 2nd Unit:
- Robert V. Girolami
- Location Manager
- Louis F. DiFelice
- 2nd Unit Directors
- Kirk Thatcher
- Thomas G. Smith
- Assistant Directors
- Michelle Ziegler
- Fredric B. Clark IV
- J. David Brightbill
- 2nd Unit:
- Robert V. Girolami
- Script Supervisors
- Christine Moore
- 2nd Unit:
- Lexie Longstreet
- Casting
- Mike Fenton
- Allison Cowitt
- Wilmington:
- Fincannon and Associates
- Camera Operators
- David J. Frederick
- Frank Flynn
- 2nd Unit:
- Eyal Gordin
- Producer of Visual Effects
- Thomas G. Smith
- Visual Effects Editor
- Paul M. Wagner
- Visual Effects Photography Co-ordinator
- Rose Neighbors
- Visual Effects
- David B. Sharp Productions
- David B. Sharp
- Wyatt Weed
- Richard Cross
- Tom Gleason
- Alan McFarland
- John Chaldu
- Derek Prusak
- CFC/MVFX Los Angeles
- John E. Sasaki
- Jonathan F. Styrlund
- Mary S. Leitz
- Laura Harrigan
- Eric W. Weinschenk
- Travis Baumann
- Matt Dessero
- Robert Chapin
- John Cassella Jr
- Dreamscape Imagery Inc
- Marc Weigert
- Stacey Weigert
- Carolin Grosser
- Arturo Aguilar
- Rony Soussan
- Dan Lopez
- Perpetual Motion Pictures
- Richard Malzahn
- Kimberly Sylvester
- René Clark
- EFilm
- Special Visual Effects
- Syd Dutton
- Bill Taylor
- Illusion Arts
- Kenneth Nakada
- Mike Wassel
- Kelvin McIlwain
- David S. Williams Jr
- Fumi Mashimo
- Catherine Sudolcan
- Richard Patterson
- Special Effects
- Co-ordinator:
- Michael Alan Schorr
- Supervisor:
- Tom Kittle
- Chief Model Maker
- Eric W. Skipper
- Puppeteer Co-captains
- Bill Barretta
- Jane Gootnick
- Muppet Effects Co-ordinator
- Tom Newby
- Muppet Floor Crew Captain
- Scott Johnson
- Muppet Floor Production Crew
- Mary Brehmer
- Matthew Brooks
- Isabelle Dufour
- Alex L. Ferguson
- Ann Marie Holdgruen
- Animatronic Design
- Jon Gellman
- Electronic Control Design
- Tim Hawkins
- Muppet Workshop New York
- Workshop Manager:
- Edward G. Christie
- Project Supervisor:
- Rollie Krewson
- Muppet Designers/Builders:
- Eric Engelhardt
- Henri Ewaskio
- Deborah Glassberg
- Paul Hartis
- Tim Miller
- Elena Pellicciaro
- Costumes:
- Barbara S. Davis
- Victoria Ellis
- Doug James
- Connie Peterson
- Triffin Rasmussen
- Kay Stuntz
- Fabric Dyeing/Painting:
- Jason Weber
- Electro-Mechanical Effects:
- Larry Jameson
- Foam/Mold Lab Supervisor:
- James Chai
- Production Co-ordinator:
- Andrew David
- Muppet Performer Co-ordinator:
- Elizabeth Brescia
- Art Director:
- William Glenn Davis
- Art Director
- Alan J. Cassie
- Set Designers
- Christopher Scott Baker
- Helen Williams
- Alan Hook
- Set Decorator
- Marthe Pineau
- Costume Designer
- Polly Smith
- Make-up Supervisor
- Cecelia M. Verardi
- Hair Supervisor
- Betty Lou Skinner
- Main/End Titles Design
- The Picture Mill
- End Titles
- Cinema Research Corporation
- Opticals
- Howard Anderson Co
- Additional Music
- Rupert Gregson-Williams
- Orchestrations
- Miyuki Sakamoto
- John Bell
- Ole Mathisen
- Music Supervisors
- Ken Kushnick
- Cathleen Kushnick
- Score Producer
- Maggie Rodford
- Music Editor
- Kim Naves
- Music Recordist/Mixer
- Nick Wollage
- Music Consultant
- Michael Baber
- Soundtrack
- "Brick House" by Thomas McClary, Milan Williams, Walter Orange, Lionel Richie, Ronald LaPread, William King, performed by The Commodores; "Celebration" by Ronald Bell, Claydes Smith, George Brown, James Taylor, Robert Mickens, Earl Toon, Dennis Thomas, Robert Bell, Eumir Deodato, performed by the Alien Gonzos; "Dazz" by Ray Ransom, Edward Irons, Reginald Harris, performed by G. Love and Special Sauce; "Flashlight" by George Clinton Jr, Bernard Worrell, Bootsy Collins, by George Clinton and Pepe; "The Gambler" by Don Schlitz; "Getaway" by Peter Cor, Beloyd Taylor, performed by the Getaway People; "Get up offa That Thing" by Deanna Brown, Deidra Brown, Yamma Brown, performed by James Brown; "It's Your Thing" by Rudolph Isley, Ronald Isley, O'Kelley Isley, performed by the Isley Brothers; "Outa-Space" by Billy Preston, Joe Greene, performed by Billy Preston; "Shining Star" by Maurice White, Phillip Bailey, Larry Dunn, performed by (1) Earth Wind and Fire, (2) Dust Brothers featuring Jeymes; "Theme from "Star Trek" (TV Series) by Alexander Courage, Gene Roddenberry; "Survival" by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, performed by the O'Jays
- Choreography
- Toni Basil
- Sound Mixers
- Carl S. Rudisill
- 2nd Unit:
- Robert K. Maxfield
- Re-recording Mixers
- Matthew Iadarola
- Gary Gegan
- Kevin Burns
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Sandy Gendler
- Dialogue Editors
- Scott G.G. Haller
- Virginia Cook McGowan
- Sound Effects Editors
- Steven Ticknor
- Kami Asgar
- Stephen P. Robinson
- ADR
- Talent Co-ordinator:
- Paul Davidson
- Mixer:
- Dean Drabin
- Supervising Editor:
- Andrea Horta
- Editor:
- George Berndt
- Foley
- Artists:
- Gary Hecker
- Michael Broomberg
- Mixer:
- Richard Duarte
- Editors:
- Kris Gendler
- Drake Jenevein
- Gaston Biraben
- 'UFO Mania' Promo Sequence
- Steven D. Smith
- Muppet Performers
- Dave Goelz
- Gonzo/Bunsen Honeydew/Waldorf/ the Birdman
- Steve Whitmire
- Kermit the Frog/Rizzo the Rat/Beaker/Cosmic Fish No 1
- Bill Barretta
- Pepe the Prawn/Bobo as Rentro/Bubba the Rat/Johnny Fiama/ Cosmic Fish No 2
- Jerry Nelson
- Robin/Statler/Ubergonzo
- Brian Henson
- Dr Phil Van Neuter/ Sal Minella
- Kevin Clash
- Clifford
- Frank Oz
- Miss Piggy/Fozzie Bear/Animal/Sam Eagle
- Rickey Boyd
- Alice Dinnean
- John Henson
- Adam Hunt
- John Kennedy
- Peter Linz
- Drew Massey
- Ed May
- Andy Stone
- Kim Allen
- Evy Berman
- John Boone
- Dennis W. Britt
- Tyler Bunch
- Lisa Consolo
- Rowell Gormon
- B.J. Guyer
- Greg Jarnigan
- Rob Killen
- Jim Kroupa
- Bruce Lanoil
- Bob Lynch
- Pamella O'Conner
- Tim Parati
- Thom Stanley
- Lisa Sturz
- Mark Sutton
- Alan Trautman
- Jay Tyson
- Gregg Wallace
- additional performers
- Cast
- Jeffrey Tambor
- K. Edgar Singer
- F. Murray Abraham
- Noah
- Rob Schneider
- TV producer
- Josh Charles
- Agent Barker
- Ray Liotta
- gate guard
- David Arquette
- Dr Tucker
- Andie MacDowell
- Shelley Snipes
- Kathy Griffin
- female armed guard
- Pat Hingle
- General Luft
- Hollywood Hogan
- [i.e. Hulk Hogan]
- man in black
- Veronica Alicino
- TV stage manager
- David Lenthall
- Mikey the cameraman
- Richard Fullerton
- Mark Joy
- gate guards
- Carl Espy
- TV associate producer
- Deron Barnett
- child
- Christina Mullins
- little girl
- Elaine Nalee
- mashed potato lady
- Certificate
- U
- Distributor
- Columbia TriStar Films (UK)
- 7,927 feet
- 88 minutes 5 seconds
- Dolby/SDDS
- Colour by
- DeLuxe